The state ranked eighth in the country as the most gambling-addicted. The ranking is the sum of metrics including the number of residents with gambling problems, lottery sales per capita and most gambling machines per capita.

Here's a breakdown to the area where New Jersey ranked No. 1.

No. 8 in lottery ticket sales per capita

New Jersey Lottery ad(Photo: Chris Pedota/northjersey.com)

$73 billion in lottery tickets were sold in the United States in 2016. About $3 billion worth were purchased by New Jerseyans, according to the US Census Bureau.

The Garden State was out-bought by Rhode Island ($542 million), Delaware ($400 million), Massachusetts ($5 billion), and Maryland ($1.9 billion) and West Virginia ($1 billion), who all ranked above New Jersey in the WalletHub study.

Because this is measured per capita, states with lower dollar amounts spent have ranked above New Jersey.

No. 5 in legality of sports betting

Currently, sports betting is illegal in New Jersey. Four states are able to offer sports betting — Delaware, Montana, Nevada and Oregon. At present, Nevada and Delaware are the only states with active sports betting.